“Children will leave school with these life skills, which I think is amazing”: an interview study exploring teachers’ experiences of implementing a health and wellbeing curriculum

Owen, KL ORCID: 0000-0002-8198-1175, Griffith, GM ORCID: 0000-0002-4192-8505, Gillard, D and Grindle, CF ORCID: 0000-0002-9860-1968 (2023) “Children will leave school with these life skills, which I think is amazing”: an interview study exploring teachers’ experiences of implementing a health and wellbeing curriculum. Pastoral Care in Education, 42 (3). pp. 269-289. ISSN 0264-3944

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Abstract

Since 2020, changes to the school curriculum in England and Wales have made elements of Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE) statutory. As schools grapple with these changes, alongside the psychosocial impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, it is important to consider effective ways of helping children make safe decisions and improve their overall mental health/wellbeing. Previous research has demonstrated the benefits of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a treatment for range of psychological and behavioral disorders. As an extension of this, the DNA-V model provides a way of teaching children and adolescents the same psychological skills targeted within the ACT model in a more developmentally informed manner. Using scripted lesson plans, the Connect PSHE curriculum offers a research-informed curriculum for 4- to 11-year-olds so teachers can introduce the DNA-V model alongside the six ways to wellbeing. In this paper, we aimed to explore teachers’ (N = 6) experiences of implementing Connect PSHE within a primary school context. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic content analysis, we identified six themes around the implementation process: (1) buy-in and engagement, (2) training and support for teachers, (3) program design, (4) creating a psychologically safe environment, (5) online delivery, (6) benefits. We outline how these findings support the existing literature around school-based ACT and reflect upon some of the feedback for future development.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	3901 Curriculum and Pedagogy; 39 Education; Minority Health; Mental Health; Behavioral and Social Science; Social Determinants of Health; Health Disparities and Racial or Ethnic Minority Health Research; Health Disparities; Pediatric Research Initiative; Clinical Research; Mental health; 3 Good Health and Well Being; 1301 Education Systems; 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy; 1303 Specialist Studies in Education; 3903 Education systems; 3904 Specialist studies in education
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology L Education > L Education (General)
Divisions:	Education
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis Group
Date of acceptance:	31 July 2023
Date of first compliant Open Access:	21 May 2026
Date Deposited:	21 May 2026 11:08
Last Modified:	21 May 2026 11:08
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/02643944.2023.2244506
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28602

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